63-624: Articles on Lehigh Line include: Lehigh Valley Railroad , a former railroad that merged into Conrail Lehigh Valley Railway , a former short line railroad owned by the Lehigh Valley Railroad Lehigh Line (Norfolk Southern) (original Lehigh Line, formerly known as Lehigh Valley Mainline ), the Lehigh Valley Railroad's main line, now owned by Norfolk Southern Railway Lehigh Line (Conrail) ,
126-550: A New York charter for the Lehigh Valley Railway, a similar name to the LVRR, but with "railway" instead. LVRR subsidiary, Lehigh Valley Railway began constructing the main line's northern part from Buffalo to Lancaster, New York , in 1883, a total distance of ten miles. This was the second step toward establishment of a direct route from Sayre to Buffalo (thus avoiding the connecting spur to Waverly and on to Buffalo on
189-469: A few hundred acres of coal land, by 1868 the LVRR was feeling pressure from the Delaware and Hudson and the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad in the northern Wyoming Valley coal field, where the railroads mined and transported their own coal at a much reduced cost. The LVRR recognized that its own continued prosperity depended on obtaining what coal lands remained. In pursuit of that strategy,
252-551: A fleet of ships on the Great Lakes with terminals in Chicago , Milwaukee , and Duluth . This company became an important factor in the movement of anthracite, grain and package freight between Buffalo, Chicago, Milwaukee, Duluth, Superior and other midwestern cities. Following Federal legislation which stopped the operation of such service, the lake line was sold to private interests in 1920. The port on Lake Erie at Buffalo
315-587: A quarter of it was ballasted with stone or gravel. The line had a descending or level grade from Mauch Chunk to Easton and with the exception of the curve at Mauch Chunk had no curve of less than 700 feet radius. The 46-mile-long (74 km) LVRR connected at Mauch Chunk with the Beaver Meadow Railroad . The Beaver Meadow Railroad had been built in 1836, and it transported anthracite coal from Jeansville in Pennsylvania's Middle Coal Field to
378-414: A rail line owned by Conrail Shared Assets Operations , was once part of the original Lehigh Line Lehigh Line Connection , a railroad connection near Newark, New Jersey Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lehigh Line . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to
441-741: A railroad in the Northeastern United States built predominantly to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Northeastern Pennsylvania to major consumer markets in Philadelphia , New York City , and elsewhere. On April 21, 1846, the railroad was authorized to provide freight transportation of passengers, goods, wares, merchandise, and minerals in Pennsylvania . On September 20, 1847,
504-563: A terminus in Jersey City, New Jersey . Construction commenced in 1872 as soon the Easton and Amboy was formed; coal docks at Perth Amboy were soon constructed, and most of the line from Easton to Perth Amboy was graded and rails laid. However, the route required a 4,893-foot (1,491 m) tunnel through/under Musconetcong Mountain near Pattenburg, New Jersey (about twelve miles east of Phillipsburg), and that proved troublesome, delaying
567-570: A third rail within the Erie mainline tracks to enable the LV equipment to run through to Elmira and later to Buffalo. Further rounds of acquisitions took place in 1868. The acquisitions in 1868 were notable because they marked the beginning of the LVRR's strategy of acquiring coal lands to ensure production and traffic for its own lines. Although the 1864 acquisition of the Beaver Meadow had included
630-919: The Delaware Division Canal or transported across the river to Phillipsburg, New Jersey , where the Morris Canal and the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) could carry it to the New York City market. At Easton, the LVRR constructed a double-decked bridge across the Delaware River for connections to the CNJ and the Belvidere Delaware Railroad in Phillipsburg. Through a connection with
693-794: The Hayts Corners, Ovid & Willard Railroad opened May 14, 1883 from the Geneva, Ithaca & Sayre to the Willard asylum, and continued in service until 1936. In Pennsylvania, the Lehigh scored a coup by obtaining the charter formerly held by the Schuykill Haven and Lehigh River Railroad in 1886. That charter had been held by the Reading Railroad since 1860, when it had blocked construction in order to maintain its monopoly in
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#1732780359269756-728: The Hudson River waterfront in Jersey City . The LVRR, which had built coal docks in Perth Amboy when it built the Easton and Amboy in the 1870s, desired a terminal on the Hudson River close to New York City . In 1891, the LVRR consolidated the Roselle and South Plainfield Railway into the Lehigh Valley Terminal Railway , along with the other companies which formed the route from South Plainfield to
819-561: The Lehigh Canal at Mauch Chunk. For 25 years the Lehigh Canal had enjoyed a monopoly on downstream transportation and was charging independent producers high fees. When the LVRR opened, those producers eagerly sent their product by the railroad instead of canal, and within two years of its construction the LVRR was carrying over 400,000 tons of coal annually. By 1859 it had 600 coal cars and 19 engines. The LVRR immediately became
882-583: The Lehigh River and break the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company 's monopoly on coal traffic from Wyoming Valley . The railroad was chartered on August 2, 1847, and elected James Madison Porter its president on October 21. Little occurred between 1847 and 1851, save some limited grading near Allentown, Pennsylvania . All this changed in October 1851, when Asa Packer took majority control of
945-762: The Lehigh River . The Lehigh Valley Railroad's original and primary route between Easton and Allentown was built in 1855. The line later expanded past Allentown to Lehigh Valley Terminal in Buffalo and past Easton to New York City , bringing the Lehigh Valley Railroad to these metropolitan areas. By December 31, 1925, the railroad controlled 1,363.7 miles of road and 3,533.3 miles of track. By 1970, this had dwindled to 927 miles of road and 1963 miles of track. The first small repair shops for locomotives and cars were located in Delano, Wilkes-Barre, Weatherly, Hazleton, and South Easton. In 1902 these were mostly consolidated into
1008-658: The Port of New York and New Jersey to serve consumer markets in the New York metropolitan area , eliminating the Phillipsburg connection with the CNJ that had previously been the only outlet to the New York tidewater; until it was built, the terminus of the LVRR had been at Phillipsburg on the Delaware River opposite Easton, Pennsylvania . The Easton and Amboy was used as a connection to the New York metropolitan area, with
1071-608: The Schuylkill Valley coal fields. The Vosburg Tunnel was completed and opened for service on July 25, 1886. The 16-mile mountain cut-off, a rail segment of the line that extended from Fairview, Pennsylvania , to the outskirts of Pittston, Pennsylvania , was completed in November 1888. This allowed the line's eastbound grade to be reduced and a shorter route for handling through traffic established. The LVRR had built coal docks in Perth Amboy, New Jersey , when it built
1134-883: The Thomas Iron Company , the Lehigh Crane Iron Company , the Lehigh Valley Iron Works, the Carbon Iron Company, and others. At Bethlehem, Pennsylvania , the North Pennsylvania Railroad which was completed during the Summer of 1856, provided a rail connection to Philadelphia and thus brought the LVRR a direct line to Philadelphia. At Phillipsburg, New Jersey , the Belvidere Delaware Railroad connected to Trenton, New Jersey . To accommodate
1197-656: The 1868 purchases of the Hazleton Railroad and the Lehigh Luzerne Railroad brought 1,800 acres (7.3 km ) of coal land to the LVRR, and additional lands were acquired along branches of the LVRR. Over the next dozen years the railroad acquired other large tracts of land: 13,000 acres (53 km ) in 1870, 5,800 acres (23 km ) in 1872, and acquisition of the Philadelphia Coal Company in 1873 with its large leases in
1260-586: The 4 ft 10 in (1,473 mm) gauge of the Belvidere, the cars were furnished with wheels having wide treads that operated on both roads. The 1860s saw an expansion of the LVRR northward to the Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania , area and up the Susquehanna River to the New York state line. Asa Packer was elected President of the Lehigh Valley Railroad on January 13, 1862. In 1864,
1323-546: The Bound Brook and Easton were merged to form a new railroad company called the Easton and Amboy Railroad (or Easton & Amboy Railroad Company). The Easton and Amboy Railroad was a railroad built across central New Jersey by the Lehigh Valley Railroad to run from Phillipsburg, New Jersey , to Bound Brook, New Jersey , and it was built to connect the Lehigh Valley Railroad coal-hauling operations in Pennsylvania and
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#17327803592691386-625: The Central Railroad of New Jersey, LVRR passengers had a route to Newark, New Jersey , Jersey City, New Jersey , and other points in New Jersey . The LVRR's rolling stock was hired from the Central Railroad of New Jersey and a contract was made with the CNJ to run two passenger trains from Easton to Mauch Chunk connecting with the Philadelphia trains on the Belvidere Delaware Railroad. A daily freight train
1449-513: The DLS&;S. Packer brought additional financing to the railroad, installed Robert H. Sayre as chief engineer, and renamed the company the "Lehigh Valley Railroad." Construction began in earnest in 1853, and the line opened between Easton and Allentown on June 11, 1855. The section between Allentown and Mauch Chunk opened on September 12. At Easton, the LVRR interchanged coal at the Delaware River where coal could be shipped to Philadelphia on
1512-550: The Easton and Amboy Railroad was opened for business on June 28, 1875, with hauling coal. The Easton and Amboy's operations were labeled the "New Jersey Division" of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The Easton and Amboy had already completed large docks and facilities for shipping coal at Perth Amboy upon an extensive tract of land fronting the Arthur Kill. Approximately 350,000 tons of anthracite moved to Perth Amboy during that year for transshipment by water. Operations continued until
1575-481: The Easton and Amboy in the 1870s, but desired a terminal on the Hudson River close to New York City . In New Jersey, the LVRR embarked on a decade-long legal battle with the CNJ over terminal facilities in Jersey City . The land that Asa Packer had obtained in 1872 was situated on the southern side of the Morris Canal's South Basin, but the CNJ already had its own facilities adjacent to that property and disputed
1638-647: The Erie), the first being the acquisition of the Geneva, Ithaca & Athens Railroad. In 1887, the Lehigh Valley Railroad obtained a lease on the Southern Central Railroad (the LVRR previously had trackage rights on the railroad starting in 1870), which had a route from Sayre northward into the Finger Lakes region. At the same time, the LVRR organized the Buffalo and Geneva Railroad to build
1701-597: The Jersey City terminal. Initially, the LVRR contracted with the CNJ for rights from Roselle to Jersey City, but the LVRR eventually finished construction to its terminal in Jersey City over the Newark and Roselle Railway , the Newark and Passaic Railway , the Jersey City, Newark, and Western Railway , and the Jersey City Terminal Railway . The LVRR's Newark and Roselle Railway in 1891 brought
1764-816: The LV to reach White Haven. In 1866, the LVRR purchased acquired the Lehigh and Mahanoy Railroad (originally the Quakake Railroad) and the North Branch Canal along the Susquehanna River, renaming it the Pennsylvania and New York Canal & Railroad Company (P&NY). The purchasing of the North Branch Canal saw an opportunity for a near monopoly in the region north of the Wyoming Valley . In 1866, two years after
1827-400: The LVRR acquired other large tracts of land starting at 13,000 acres (53 km ) in 1870, with an additional of 5,800 acres (23 km ) in 1872, and turned its eye toward expansion across New Jersey all the way to the New York City area. In 1870, the Lehigh Valley Railroad acquired trackage rights to Auburn, New York , on the Southern Central Railroad . The most important market in
1890-651: The LVRR began acquiring feeder railroads and merging them with its system. The first acquisitions were the Beaver Meadow Railroad and Coal Company, which included a few hundred acres of coal land, and the Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad. The purchase of the Penn Haven and White Haven was the first step in expanding to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania . To reach Wilkes-Barre, the LVRR began constructing an extension from White Haven, Pennsylvania , to Wilkes-Barre. The Penn Haven and White Haven Railroad allowed
1953-459: The LVRR began an extensive expansion into New York from Sayre, Pennsylvania (just southeast of Waverly) to Buffalo. Construction from Sayre to Buffalo was split into two projects, Sayre to Geneva, New York , and Geneva, which is located at the northern end of Seneca Lake ), to Buffalo. First, it purchased a large parcel of land in Buffalo, the Tifft farm, for use as terminal facilities, and obtained
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2016-584: The LVRR purchased the National Docks Railway outright. The 1890s began with the completion of its terminals in Buffalo and Jersey City, and the establishment of a trunk line across New York state, the company soon became entangled in costly business dealings which ultimately led to the Packer family's loss of control. The coal trade was always the backbone of the business but was subject to boom and bust as competition and production increased and
2079-512: The LVRR purchased the Penn Haven & White Haven Railroad in 1864, and began constructing an extension from White Haven to Wilkes-Barre that was opened in 1867. By 1869, the LVRR owned a continuous track through Pennsylvania from Easton to Waverly. In the following year, the LVRR—a standard gauge railroad—completed arrangements with the Erie Railroad, at that time having a six-foot gauge, for
2142-572: The LVRR's bankruptcy in 1976. The marshalling yard is now the residential area known as Harbortown . Passenger traffic on the LVRR's Easton and Amboy connected with the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) at Metuchen, New Jersey , and continued to the PRR'S Exchange Place terminus in Jersey City; that connection was discontinued in 1891 after the LVRR established its own route to Jersey City from South Plainfield. The Easton and Amboy Railroad
2205-480: The LVRR's title, which partly overlapped land the CNJ had filled for its own terminal. Finally in 1887 the two railroads reached a settlement, and construction of the LVRR's Jersey City freight yard began. The LVRR obtained a 5-year agreement to use the CNJ line to access the terminal, which opened in 1889. It fronted the Morris Canal Basin with a series of 600-foot (180 m) piers angling out from
2268-538: The Mahanoy basin. In 1875, the holdings were consolidated into the Lehigh Valley Coal Company, which was wholly owned by the LVRR. By 1893, the LVRR owned or controlled 53,000 acres (210 km ) of coal lands. With these acquisitions, the LVRR obtained the right to mine coal as well as transport it. The 1870s witnessed commencement of extension of the LVRR in a new direction. In the 1870s
2331-592: The Newark Bay was bridged in 1892 by the Jersey City, Newark and Western Railway and connected to the National Docks Railway , which was partly owned by the LVRR and which reached the LVRR's terminal. In 1895, the LVRR constructed the Greenville and Hudson Railway parallel with the national docks in order to relieve congestion and have a wholly-owned route into Jersey City. Finally in 1900,
2394-535: The Northeastern New Jersey in order to reach its freight yards without using the CNJ main line. The LVRR began construction of a series of railroads to connect the Easton and Amboy line (Easton and Amboy Railroad) to Jersey City. The first leg of the construction to Jersey City was the Roselle and South Plainfield Railway in 1888 which connected with the CNJ at Roselle for access over the CNJ to
2457-406: The Southern Coal Field. That southern field held the largest reserves of anthracite in Pennsylvania and accounted for a large percentage of the total production. Through neglect, the Reading allowed the charter to lapse, and it was acquired by the Lehigh Valley, which immediately constructed the Schuylkill and Lehigh Valley Railroad. The line gave the LVRR a route into Pottsville, Pennsylvania , and
2520-418: The actions of the cartel , and since coal was critical to commerce, Congress intervened in 1887 with the Interstate Commerce Act that forbade the roads from joining into such pools. Although the roads effectively ignored the Act and their sales agents continued to meet and set prices, the agreements were never effective for long. Packerton, Pennsylvania Too Many Requests If you report this error to
2583-406: The canal at Mauch Chunk to Wilkes-Barre. After the LVRR opened its line, the Lehigh & Susquehanna extended to Phillipsburg, New Jersey , and connected with the CNJ and the Morris and Essex Railroad in 1868. In 1871, the entire line from Phillipsburg to Wilkes-Barre was leased to the CNJ. For most of its length, it ran parallel to the LVRR. The LVRR found that the route of the Morris Canal
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2646-441: The east was New York City, but the LVRR was dependent on the CNJ and the Morris Canal for transport to the New York tidewater. In 1871, the LVRR leased the Morris Canal, which had a valuable outlet in Jersey City on the Hudson River opposite Manhattan . Asa Packer purchased additional land at the canal basin in support of the New Jersey West Line Railroad , which he hoped to use as the LVRR's terminal. That project failed, but
2709-436: The economy cycled. The coal railroads had begun in 1873 to form pools to regulate production and set quotas for each railroad. By controlling supply, the coal combination attempted to keep prices and profits high. Several combinations occurred, but each fell apart as one road or another abrogated its agreement. The first such combination occurred in 1873, followed by others in 1878, 1884, and 1886. Customers naturally resented
2772-539: The hands of the LVRR in September 1876, which extended from the New York state line near Sayre, Pennsylvania , to Geneva, New York , a distance of 75 miles. On May 17, 1879, Asa Packer, the company's founder and leader, died at the age of 73. At the time of his death, the railroad was shipping 4.4 million tons of coal annually over 657 miles (1,057 km) of track, using 235 engines, 24,461 coal cars, and over 2,000 freight cars of various kinds. The company controlled 30,000 acres (120 km ) of coal-producing lands and
2835-402: The intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lehigh_Line&oldid=1140370070 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad ( reporting mark LV ) was
2898-414: The lands were later used for the LVRR's own terminal in 1889. The CNJ, anticipating that the LVRR intended to create its own line across New Jersey, protected itself by leasing the Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad (L&S) to ensure a continuing supply of coal traffic. The L&S had been chartered in 1837 by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company (the Lehigh Canal company) to connect the upper end of
2961-410: The line from Roselle into Newark, where passengers connected to the Pennsylvania Railroad. Bridging Newark Bay proved difficult. The LVRR first attempted to obtain a right of way at Greenville , but the Pennsylvania Railroad checkmated them by purchasing most of the properties needed. Then the CNJ opposed the LVRR's attempt to cross its line at Caven Point . Finally after settling the legal issues,
3024-429: The opening of the line until May 1875, when a coal train first passed over the line. To support the expected increase in traffic, the wooden bridge over the Delaware River at Easton was also replaced by a double-tracked, 1,191-foot (363 m) iron bridge. At Perth Amboy, a tidewater terminal was built on the Arthur Kill comprising a large coal dock used to transport coal into New York City. These tracks were laid and
3087-405: The purchase of the Penn Haven and White Haven, the extension from White Haven to Wilkes-Barre opened. Construction of a rail line to the New York state line started immediately and, in 1867, the line was complete from Wilkes-Barre to Waverly, New York , where coal was transferred to the broad gauge Erie Railroad and shipped to western markets through Buffalo, New York . To reach Wilkes-Barre,
3150-405: The railroad acquired land in northeast Pennsylvania and formed a subsidiary called The Glen Summit Hotel and Land Company. It opened a hotel in Glen Summit, Pennsylvania , called the Glen Summit Hotel to serve lunch to passengers traveling on the line. The hotel remained with the company until 1909, when it was bought by residents of the surrounding cottages. In New York State, s branch line,
3213-410: The railroad ended operations and merged into Conrail along with several northeastern railroads that same year. The Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad (DLS&S) was authorized by the Pennsylvania General Assembly on April 21, 1846, to construct a railroad from Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania , now Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, to Easton, Pennsylvania . The railroad would run parallel to
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#17327803592693276-405: The railroad was incorporated and established, initially called the Delaware, Lehigh, Schuylkill and Susquehanna Railroad Company . On January 7, 1853, the railroad's name was changed to Lehigh Valley Railroad. It was sometimes known as the Route of the Black Diamond ; black diamond is a slang word for anthracite , the high-end type of Pennsylvania coal that it initially transported by boat down
3339-412: The rest of the 97-mile Geneva to Buffalo trackage, from Geneva to Lancaster. Finally, in 1889, the LVRR gained control of the Geneva, Ithaca, and Sayre Railroad and completed its line of rail through New York. As a result of its leases and acquisitions, the Lehigh Valley gained a near-monopoly on traffic in the Finger Lakes region. It also continued to grow and develop its routes in Pennsylvania. In 1883
3402-469: The route in New York state to Buffalo, considerably shortening the line. The majority of the Lehigh Line is now owned by the Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) and retains much of its original route in eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey , although it no longer goes into New York City. The former Lehigh Valley tracks between Manville, New Jersey , and Newark are operated separately by Conrail Shared Assets Operations as their own Lehigh Line . In 1976,
3465-465: The shops at Sayre, Pennsylvania on the New York State border, which featured a 750 by 336-foot machine shop with 48 erecting pits. The shops in Packerton, Pennsylvania , located in the Coal Region north of Allentown, served as the primary freight car shops. Conrail maintained the line as a main line into the New York metropolitan area , and the line became known as the Lehigh Line during Conrail's ownership of it. In 1976, Conrail abandoned most of
3528-451: The shoreline but was too narrow for a yard, so the LVRR built a separate yard at Oak Island in Newark to sort and prepare trains. The South Basin terminal was used solely for freight, having docks and car float facilities. Passengers were routed to the Pennsylvania Railroad's terminal and ferry. The LVRR strove throughout the 1880s to acquire its own route to Jersey City and to the Jersey City waterfront. The LVRR decided to expand more to
3591-478: The trunk line down the Lehigh Valley, with numerous feeder railroads connecting and contributing to its traffic. The production of the entire Middle Coal Field came to the LVRR over feeders to the Beaver Meadow: the Quakake Railroad , the Catawissa, Williamsport and Erie Railroad , the Hazleton Railroad , the Lehigh Luzerne Railroad and other smaller lines. At Catasauqua, the Catasauqua and Fogelsville Railroad transported coal, ore, limestone and iron for furnaces of
3654-456: Was absorbed into the parent Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1875, the LVRR financed the addition of a third rail to the Erie Railroad main line so that cars could roll directly from colliery to the port at Buffalo. While the third rail on the Erie Railroad main line between Waverly and Buffalo gave the LVRR an unbroken connection to Buffalo, the road's management desired its own line into Buffalo. The Geneva, Ithaca & Athens Railroad passed into
3717-420: Was critical to the LVRR's shipments of coal to western markets and for receipt of grain sent by the West to eastern markets. Although in 1870 the LVRR had invested in the 2-mile (3.2 km) Buffalo Creek Railroad, which connected the Erie to the lakefront, and had constructed the Lehigh Docks on Buffalo Creek , it depended on the Erie Railroad for the connection from Waverly to Buffalo, New York . In 1882,
3780-432: Was elected president, a position he held for 13 years. The 1880s continued to be a period of growth, and the LVRR made important acquisitions in New York, expanded its reach into the southern coal field of Pennsylvania which had hitherto been the monopoly of the Reading, and successfully battled the CNJ over terminal facilities in Jersey City . In 1880, the LVRR established the Lehigh Valley Transportation Line to operate
3843-469: Was expanding rapidly into New York and New Jersey. The railroad had survived the economic depression of 1873 and was seeing its business recover. Leadership of the company transferred smoothly to Charles Hartshorne, who had been vice president under Packer. In 1883, Hartshorne retired to allow Harry E. Packer, Asa's 32-year-old youngest son, to assume the Presidency. A year later, Harry Packer died of illness, and Asa's 51-year-old nephew Elisha Packer Wilbur
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#17327803592693906-423: Was impractical for use as a railroad line, so in 1872 the LVRR purchased the dormant charter of the Perth Amboy and Bound Brook Railroad which had access to the Perth Amboy, New Jersey , harbor, and added to it a new charter, the Bound Brook and Easton Railroad. The State of New Jersey passed legislation that allowed the LVRR to consolidate its New Jersey railroads into one company; the Perth Amboy and Bound Brook and
3969-486: Was put into operation leaving Easton in the morning and returning in the evening. In the early part of October 1855, a contract was made with Howard & Co. of Philadelphia to do the freighting business of the railroad (except coal, iron, and iron ore). The length of the line from Mauch Chunk to Easton was 46 miles of single track. The line was laid with a rail weighing 56 pounds per yard supported upon cross ties 6 x 7 inches and 7-1/2 feet long placed 2 feet apart and about
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